Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Mar 19

 Dave’s Musings

I've been reading a lot about the state of working in the US, and specifically, how companies are "forcing" employees to come back to work full time. All the while, not considering that costs have gone up for commuting and associated work-related items - and there are no pay increases offered. Yet, company profits continue to rise. And companies also don't listen to what their employees want beyond a modest increase: they simply assume that a ping pong table will draw people in.

A recent survey shows that employee engagement is at an all time low in this country, hovering below 33% of workers saying they feel engaged. Employers want to be a "family" type environment. Workers increasingly want actual family first, with work being a component of life.

Meanwhile, in Europe and the UK, employee engagement is quite high (and increasing). The reasons are varied, but include the labor laws, the fact that companies listen to employees, that they value employee satisfaction over corporate greed, that they don't try to force employees to do whatever nonsense, that healthcare is not tied to a job, and so on.

By the way, the UK toyed with an idea for a 4 day work week - that is a total of 32 hours of work for the same pay - and it was fairly successful and productivity went UP during the testing phase. And most companies in the pilot are adopting it going forward.

Here at home, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation for the same in the US. It was met with derision by his GOP colleagues, so its naturally going nowhere. But it does get some press.

Still, maybe US companies could learn a thing or two about how to get employees engaged again.

Last week, SpaceX completed a rare feat. They launched a series of satellites from Vandenburg, California, and then a few hours later, they launched satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's remarkable how efficient private companies can be; NASA used to take months between various launches. You can watch both launches here: https://youtu.be/TF0Ct0TOnGY

A little outside-the-box thinking goes a long way. Neutrino detection on a large scale has proven to be somewhat elusive. But, having the ability to detect them may help expand our understanding of our universe. A group of scientists has suggested that a forest may provide a large enough antenna, and all they have to do is to nail a wire onto each tree to connect them and build a full antenna. Will it work? Who knows? But its a simple idea that is "just crazy enough" to work. https://www.science-news.org/article/forests-neutrino-detectors-physics

The Walt Disney company announced a large-scale expansion of Disneyland. This is remarkable because Disneyland is pretty well locked into the small-ish piece of real estate they hold in Anaheim. But they have plans to purchase some of the surrounding properties, to ask for some variances to the building codes, and to have the city and county to allow roads to be moved and enhanced. Disney would create a mega complex, that is more immersive, and perhaps a little more like Disney World in some ways. And they would create affordable housing and other things to help the community. Good idea? Bad idea? I really can't say. But locals are skeptical due to the current physical constraints.  In any event, they passed the first hurdle, by getting the city commission approval in a 5-1 vote. The lone dissenter made an amusing comment as the meeting dragged on - that he had forgotten to cancel his park reservation. So even though he voted against it, I guess he's a fan.

I really like infographics. There are really cool ways to display information that display information concisely. That principle can extend to other things, like maps for example. You can get a lot of information simply by changing your point of view. Here's a fun look at 35 maps of the world that allow you to change your point of view: https://pleated-jeans.com/2024/03/06/amazing-maps-of-the-world/

Latest video

I created a video that pays tribute to the history of Walt Disney World's monorail system. https://youtu.be/LFtv_yIPxEc?si=tF6sSMF2KCrAEmYO

One Little Spark …

Climate change continues to be a real threat. As we've seen in the past, the most vulnerable are those we consider poor. But the wealthy, as residents on this planet, can be impacted as well. In some cases, because they made a decision to purchase property in an area that is directly impacted by changes. Here are two recent examples of what that means in the real world: California landslide threatens home Florida home shows beach erosion Problem one is that they shouldn't be building in sensitive areas; insurance or the communities around them will surely have to pay to remediate this. And problem two is that in many cases related to erosion, the community has to make a decision to save a house, or to restore the beach; both can't be done for practical or financial reasons. And because we get mired in politics, and the wealthy exude their influence, we all lose.